Phillips 66 Is a Sell; Strong Momentum from Option Traders

October 17, 2016October 17, 2016Linda Rogers

In today’s session Phillips 66 (PSX) recorded an unusually high (1,026) contracts volume of put trades. Someone, most probably a professional was a very active buyer of the November, 2016 put, expecting serious PSX decrease. With 1,026 contracts traded and 11044 open interest for the Nov, 16 contract, it seems this is a quite bearish bet. The option with symbol: PSX161118P00077500 closed last at: $2.15 or 16.2% up. About 453,538 shares traded hands. Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) has declined 7.97% since March 14, 2016 and is downtrending. It has underperformed by 13.58% the S&P500.

Analysts await Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) to report earnings on November, 4. They expect $0.91 EPS, down 69.87% or $2.11 from last year’s $3.02 per share. PSX’s profit will be $476.76 million for 21.71 P/E if the $0.91 EPS becomes a reality. After $0.94 actual EPS reported by Phillips 66 for the previous quarter, Wall Street now forecasts -3.19% negative EPS growth.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Ratings Coverage

Out of 15 analysts covering Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX), 1 rate it a “Buy”, 0 “Sell”, while 14 “Hold”. This means 7% are positive. Phillips 66 has been the topic of 28 analyst reports since August 4, 2015 according to StockzIntelligence Inc. The firm has “Neutral” rating given on Friday, September 30 by Goldman Sachs. The company was maintained on Monday, November 2 by Barclays Capital. As per Monday, August 22, the company rating was maintained by Piper Jaffray. On Monday, November 23 the stock rating was downgraded by Goldman Sachs to “Sell”. The stock of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) has “Outperform” rating given on Tuesday, October 27 by Credit Suisse. Oppenheimer maintained Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) rating on Friday, December 4. Oppenheimer has “Outperform” rating and $110 price target. Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to “Neutral” rating in Monday, November 2 report. On Friday, June 17 the stock rating was downgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Equal-Weight”. The stock of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) has “Neutral” rating given on Monday, November 2 by JP Morgan. The rating was downgraded by Wells Fargo on Friday, July 8 to “Market Perform”.

According to Zacks Investment Research, “Phillips 66 is a downstream energy company. It operates in three segments: Refining & Marketing, Midstream and Chemicals. The Refining and Marketing segment purchases, refines, markets and transports crude oil and petroleum products, mainly in the United States, Europe and Asia and also engages in power generation activities, lubricants and other specialty products businesses. The Midstream segment gathers, processes, transports and markets natural gas and fractionates and markets NGL, predominantly in the United States. The Chemicals segment manufactures and markets petrochemicals and plastics. Phillips 66 is headquartered in Houston, Texas.”

Insitutional Activity: The institutional sentiment decreased to 0.81 in Q2 2016. Its down 0.09, from 0.9 in 2016Q1. The ratio dived, as 75 funds sold all Phillips 66 shares owned while 394 reduced positions. 67 funds bought stakes while 314 increased positions. They now own 360.95 million shares or 2.47% less from 370.08 million shares in 2016Q1.
Strs Ohio reported 287,387 shares or 0.1% of all its holdings. Vantage Invest Advsrs Lc has invested 0.03% of its portfolio in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX). Cypress Capital Mgmt Lc owns 8,077 shares or 0.22% of their US portfolio. Inv Centers Of America accumulated 7,476 shares or 0.11% of the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers holds 0.06% of its portfolio in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) for 21,120 shares. Blackrock Institutional Trust Na has invested 0.16% of its portfolio in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX). Contravisory Invest Mgmt Inc accumulated 24 shares or 0% of the stock. The Ohio-based Winfield Assoc Incorporated has invested 0.08% in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX). Natixis accumulated 5,706 shares or 0.01% of the stock. Herndon Capital Management Ltd Liability Company holds 0% or 1,108 shares in its portfolio. Midas Mngmt Corp last reported 0.92% of its portfolio in the stock. Clark Mngmt Grp Inc Inc, a Pennsylvania-based fund reported 4,707 shares. Capwealth Advsrs Lc holds 0.08% or 3,927 shares in its portfolio. Spirit Of America Corporation Ny last reported 35,587 shares in the company. Northeast Investment holds 0.08% or 9,788 shares in its portfolio.

Insider Transactions: Since May 19, 2016, the stock had 11 buys, and 4 selling transactions for $392.51 million net activity. $37.65 million worth of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was bought by BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. On Thursday, September 15 the insider Herman Robert A sold $345,686. Taylor Timothy Garth also sold $3.90M worth of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) on Tuesday, June 28. $1.00M worth of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was bought by Loomis William R Jr on Monday, June 13. 62,500 shares were sold by Garland Greg C., worth $5.00 million on Friday, June 3. $3.19M worth of shares were sold by Johnson Paula Ann on Wednesday, June 29.

Phillips 66 is an energy manufacturing and logistics firm with midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing, and specialties businesses. The company has a market cap of $41.41 billion. The Firm operates its business through four divisions: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties . It has a 13.75 P/E ratio. The Midstream segment includes its equity investment in DCP Midstream , LLC (DCP Midstream) and its investment in Phillips 66 Partners LP.

PSX Company Profile

Phillips 66, incorporated on November 10, 2011, is an energy manufacturing and logistics firm with midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing, and specialties businesses. The Firm operates its business through four divisions: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties (M&S).

More notable recent Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) news were published by: Seekingalpha.com which released: “Phillips 66 Partners: A $1.3 Billion Drop-Down Investors Have Been Waiting For” on October 17, 2016, also Thestreet.com with their article: “Buffett Darling Phillips 66 to Benefit From Largest MLP Dropdown Yet” published on October 11, 2016, Marketwatch.com published: “Phillips 66 Partners to buy crude and natgas logistics assets for $1.3 billion” on October 11, 2016. More interesting news about Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) were released by: Reuters.com and their article: “Phillips 66 Partners to buy logistics assets from Phillips 66” published on October 11, 2016 as well as Thestreet.com‘s news article titled: “Here Is Why Warren Buffett Is Smitten By Energy Stock Phillips 66” with publication date: September 22, 2016.